My mom was born in Macau in 1943. I have what I believe to be her birth record there. I do not know if she was issued an ID. I also have her Portuguese expired passports plus my father's passports. He was born in Shanghai in 1934 and I do have documents showing that. I was born in Hong Kong in 1970. We left and came to the States in 1974 and we were naturalized in 1979. I would like to get dual citizenship now with Portugal. I do not speak Portuguese but my parents do. How should I proceed? What rights do I have?
In this case, the mother's Portuguese birth certificate must first be obtained. If this exists in the Central Registry Office, you have the right to apply for citizenship directly as a child, without having to prove basic knowledge of Portuguese. If the mother does not have a Portuguese birth certificate, the procedure should be to register her in Portugal and then proceed with citizenship for the child.
If you have one or more parent or grandparent who was born in Portugal and was a Portuguese citizen, then you are eligible to apply for Portuguese citizenship by descent. You can apply for this at any age, provided you can prove that you have Portuguese ancestry within the past two generations. You will need to complete forms and provide proof of your claim at a Portuguese consulate or an office of the Portuguese immigration department. Proving that you have a direct link to a parent or grandparent who is or was a Portuguese citizen is how you prove the validity of your claim. That means being able to produce birth and marriage certificates that prove your relationship with that person. Portugal allows dual citizenship, which means provided your home country allows dual citizenship too, you can remain a citizen of your original country when you get your Portuguese passport.
Portuguese citizenship by descent grants the ability of people of Portuguese origin or citizens of former Portuguese colonies to seek full recognition of their rights regardless of where they were born. As Portugal is an EU member state, Portuguese citizens can live, work, and study anywhere within the 27 other member states as well as within EFTA nations (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein). Regarding the Macau region, the following descendants of individuals born in Macau are eligible: individuals born in Macau during Portuguese administration before November 21, 1981; individuals born in Macau to Portuguese parents before December 19, 1999; their descendants up to the third degree (great-grandchildren). The necessary documents will be passports, birth certificates and proof of residency.
+1-800-347-9390
